The answer to this question is different for everyone, it really depends on your needs and budget. You might be a home user that wants to get a head start on the 3D printing revolution or you could be a seasoned product designer thats wants to start using a machine to test your prototypes.

This is a list made for general users and not industrial scale operations, so we’ve tried to look at printers that are affordable for most budgets.

MakerClub robotics projects are infinitely more fun and allow for limitless customisation options when you have your own 3D printer and you may be surprised as to what you can get these days for relatively little money…

The First Timer

So, you think 3D printing is awesome do you? Want to get involved but don’t know where to start? Well, it’s your lucky day, because over the last 5 years there has been a flood of accessible and affordable printers that work straight out of the box.

Well, we say straight out of the box, but you need to remember that this technology is still new, so whatever printer you go for, no matter how shiny, you’ll still have to deal with occasional nozzle jams and calibration malfunctions.

Most of these can be easily fixed and it’s kind of, part of the charm for many makers. That said, it’s best to go for a brand that already has a nice big community, so if anything does go wrong (and it will!) you can be sure that someone’s done a forum post about it.

We would recommend either the Micro 3D or the XYZ printing range. You may not get the most crisp print from either of these, but they are easy to use and have a large support base.

One of the cons with XYZ is that they use their own proprietary filament, which ties you into them, rather than the open source scene. On the plus side, you know that you’ll be getting high quality ABS or PLA (most of their machines can print in both). Out of all the XYZ machines, go for the Da Vinchi 2.0 for the best print experience. These machines cost around the $600 mark.  

The Micro 3D has been made for the casual new 3D printer owner and the cost reflects that, you can pick one of these up for 350 bucks! That’s crazy money! And the print isn’t that bad, plus the software you get with the machine is really easy to use. On the flipside, the printer bed is very small, so you won’t be building massive prints anytime soon.

The Teacher / Educator

3D printing is an amazing educational tool. At MakerClub, we have bet our livelihoods that it will play a key part in how people learn over the next 10 years. Whether it’s for schools or the home learner, you want a machine that is sturdy, affordable and fast. Plus, you’d like a community of other educators to give you tips on its use. 3D printing can be used to bring lots of different subjects to life, but it’s especially good at STEM subjects.

We thought long and hard about this one, but we’ve decided to settle on the Printrbot Play. This recently won the education award at MAKE magazine.

It has a premium full metal build and you can buy it pre-built, or if you want a challenge, in its component parts, so you and your students can put it together yourself! There’s a ton of great instructions for this available online.

This prints in a great quality and frankly, this printer could have been picked for any one of these categories, but for education, this is the one to go for. This printer uses both PLA and ABS for its material and it can use all 3rd party filament  providers, making it more economical.       

The Professional Maker

For those that work in small startups or maybe run product design firms, you’re going to need something a little more heavy duty. Your prototypes may have more complex designs or could need to withstand greater forces. You want a machine that will print to the highest specifications and produce demo models that are good enough to show to clients.

There is two printers that we recommend. Firstly the Zortrax, we’ve been using this printer in our office for the last year and we love it. All our robotics designs have been prototyped on this and it greats great prints 90% of the time and for 3D printing, 90% is pretty epic! You get a really good level of detail, although the software that comes with Zortrax can be pretty clunky.

 

Once again, they have proprietary material to print with, but it’s actually not that expensive when compared to 3rd party, the price difference is pretty negligible. We’ve had a few problems with the print bed, but have received good customer support. Big thumbs up from us.

Secondly, we have the Form 2, this is a high end printer that uses a process called Stereolithography, where a liquid polymer is hardened using a laser. It’s faster than any of the other printers here, plus you can create highly detailed prints. This comes at a hefty price, but if you’re looking for something that will print correctly every time and has exceptionally high quality – this is the one for you. Plus, it looks gorgeous!          

The Home Maker

If you’re already someone that tinkers in the garage, building cool stuff and wants to start getting into get into 3D printing, then congratulations, you will love 3D printing more than anyone!

We’d recommend the Printrbot Simple Kit with Heated Bed. You get to build this yourself and as you’ve got a flare for the mechanical, this should be right up your street. Plus you’ll get to see how everything works, so if something goes wrong in a print, you’ll be able to to deduce the problem really quickly.

This printer uses ABS and PLA and costs a tiny $799. For this price, you’re getting one of the best little printers on the market, plus it’s sturdy enough to be picked up and moved around your workshop or to the local Makerfaire!

Whatever printer you decide to go for, you are embarking on an awesome creative journey and if you need help along the way, or want to add electronics to your 3D printed creations, so you can start creating your own robots, go check out our selection of MakerClub courses, they are the perfect jumping off point for any new 3D printer owner.